The Faceless Familiar
by A Certain Random Guy
Summary: Louise wanted a powerful, beautiful and holy familiar. What she gets isn't holy, but it is more than enough. It's not everyone that can summon a powerful demon as a familiar. ONE-SHOT. UP FOR ADOPTION


Louise waited for the smoke to clear around the summoning circle and noted that she unconsciously started praying for the Founder. Praying that she summoned something something powerful? That she didn't kill whatever she summoned with the explosion? That she actually summoned something at all? That she didn't know

What she did know was that someone used a wind magic to clear the smoke and let her see the results of her dedication. Then, she saw said results in the form of a man. A man in a shining armor that lacked the extravagance of a noble's - the jewels and the gold - and still was clearly better than that of a mercenary - the design and the inscriptions looked like the armor someone would wear in a crusade.

The man stood tall before her and she took a better look at him starting from his feet, that were covered by pointy sabatons that looked brand new, still shiny and polished. She went up to the greaves that fit all to well for a common armor, so she concluded the armor was made for that man alone (that meant he either was a noble, if even a not rich one, or was a respected knight). The greaves had inscriptions of different runes that went up to want she concluded must be the poleyn, were the runes circled around the middle of the knee and then continued on the way up. She took a second to analyze the runes and didn't recognize them, so she kept her vision going up until she was eyeing the cuirasss. There, a large inscribing of runes covered the breasts and she recognized them as the kind of runes that generally appeared in familiars - the only letters she got were G, A and F.

With a glance she noted the arms and even the gautlets were all covered in the strange runes and in what must have been optical illusion she almost felt they were moving slightly. The man didn't carry a weapon, or at least none she could see, so his hands were simply handing on the sides of his body. Finally, she looked up to the man's face, only to be met with a close helm that - oh, such a surprise - was also covered with runes. The runes went into straight lines up to the top of the helm, probably finishing all at the same point on the top, but that she couldn't see.

The helm had a small, almost non-existent opening to allow the man to see, but she could not see his eyes through it. Actually, it made her wonder if he could see anything through that thing.

They stood like that, completely silent and still for what felt like an eternity, before the man decided to move. Or so she thought, as he appeared to shrunk before her and everyone else. If she didn't hear the gasps from her classmates, Louise would probably think she had gone crazy. Knights didn't suddenly become shorter, along with their armor. But there in front of her the man she had summoned was doing just that and now she could actually swear the runes that covered the entire armor were moving, shifting on the metal as the space available for them was dimishing more and more.

It finally settled when the figure - now she couldn't actually be sure it was a man, or even a human - stood exactly at the same height as her, their eyesights lining up perfectly.

"So, summoner, for what reason was I brought here?" Louise said. Wait, no she didn't. So why did she hear her voice ask that question? She looked surprised at the person - or was it - that she summoned when they raised the visor their helmet. What welcomed her was...well, herself. Somehow, the person in front of her was Louise de la Vallière, wearing that strange armor. The other Louise took her helmet off, and the pink hair flooded down her back just like it did over Louise's cape.

"H-how?" she muttered before she could control herself. But, even if she was a failure at pratical magic, Louise was the best of her class - no, the best of the school - in any theoretical field and her mind was already working to understand the scene before her. She had spent the last week studying the different kinds of beasts that could be summoned and ended up looking up even on beasts that couldn't - or shouldn't - be. There was, actually, one such creature that made sense. The demon that was the perfect double, that could steal a person's identity and wear as a second skin.

"How? It should be obvious, considering you summoned a Doppelgänger, right?" the other Louise cemented her theory. She did it. She was somehow able to do something no one have ever done before and summon a demon to be her familiar.

She could already hear the gossip starting between her classmates and even Professor Colbert, the kind teacher that, different from every other, continued to believe in her, that she had potential for magic that simply hadn't been revealed yet, seemed stratled. He held his staff ready to use magic - to attack her familiar. She couldn't blame him, really. If it was, indeed, a Doppelgänger before her (and she had no reason not to believe it was) it would need to be killed before it could hurt someone.

Doppelgängers were different from other demons, since they weren't (or at least they shouldn't be) much stronger than humans, both physically and magically. But even a demon like that could probably kill her before she even noticed, and then take her place and her life.

"So, summoner, I repeat my question: for what reason was I brought here?" the Doppelgänger interrupted her thoughts. She quickly listed the possible answers she could give. Maybe tell him - her, it - that it was all a mistake? But she couldn't reverse the summoning, so that wasn't a good idea. No, the only think she could do was tell the truth and hope that the demon wouldn't kill her.

"I...I s-summoned you to serve as my f-familiar" she stumbled in her words, that left her mouth almost as a whisper. Luckily - or unluckily - enough, the demon seemed to get it.

She closed her eyes and waited for the worst. Maybe it would be a painless death? Or Colbert could even take down the Doppelgänger before it attacked her? Maybe it wouldn't be so pissed and would let her go?

For a time that felt like an eternity there was only silence and then she got her answer, and it came in the form of a loud laugh from the demon. She opened her eyes to see her double laughing with an enthusiasm she, as a noble lady, would never reach. Looks like the idea of being summoned to be a familiar amused the demon, somehow.

His (her, its?) laugh kept everyone else around petrified. They weren't dead, so maybe the summon wasn't going to kill them. But then again, if they interrupted the laughing this might change. That was probably what went through everyone's head as the armored double guffawed for what? a minute? before finally settling down.

"That was a good one, girl. I seriously can't be sure if you are incredibly bold, or ridiculously stupid" the Doppelgänger finally spoke again "but, to be honest, and that's a lot coming from one like me, if you were even able to bring me here, without any catalysts and unintentionally at that, I wouldn't mind forming a contract with you. Now, what are you willing to give me for your services?"

That shocked her more than everything that happened up until that point. That powerful demon deemed her worthy? He (she,it?) was actually willing to be bound to her? That was more than she could ever ask for. But now she had to be cautious. For all she knew, the demon could chance their mind just like that.

"I-I will give you shelter and food..." she trailed off for a moment, thinking about anything else she could actually offer. She remembered demons usually needed magical energy - or life energy - to exist "also, I will provide you with energy from the contract and...pay for things you ask, if reasonable..." Maybe she shouldn't have added that last line?It could be interpreted as a preposterous demand from her, right? The demon chuckled lightly before answering

"Those are reasonable terms for a contract. Shall we proceed, then" and that was her cue. Before she could back down, she raised her wand and proclaimed

"My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being and make him my familiar." At that, she got closer and kissed her own doubled. A small part of her mind noted how interesting a story that would be later - how her first kiss was taken by herself.

As their lips sepparated, a faint glow left the spaces from the Doppelgänger's gauntlet, the rune symbols probably appearing at the now familiar's hand. Said familiar smirked before proclaiming just as she had.

"I, Unbekannt, The Oldest of the Doppelgänger's, accept your terms, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. We are now bound to one another, until death tear us apart"

And with that it was over. Louise had summoned a familiar. It was not holy, far from that, and could be beautiful if it so wanted, but there was no denying it was powerful.

Big Sis Eleonore would be pissed, of that she was certain.

* * *

**Well, this was just an idea that I decided to write down. I don't plan on expanding it or anything (at least for now, while I'm already writing another Familiar of Zero fanfic) but felt like I just write it nonetheless.**

**The inspiration came when I read another fanfic and it was suggested, so I thought 'well, a Doppelgänger isn't linked to any element, so it fits the void, so why not?' and this is what came out.**

**If anyone that is a native speaker is so generous, I'd really like to change Unbekannt's lines to an archaic form, since I think it fits the character better. If anyone feels like helping, PM me the lines and I will update.**

**Oh, and if you are wondering, 'Unbekannt' means 'unkown/nameless' in german - or so it says on google translate. **


End file.
